Phil Ngo
LightNews LightNews
banner
squamate.bsky.social
Phil Ngo
@squamate.bsky.social
190 followers 130 following 70 posts
Field herping in SoCal since Sept 2024 😆. Occasionally posting about science, ecology, conservation, and the natural world when I encounter something new and interesting. Photos and thoughts are my own. Creatures stay in the wild.
Posts Replies Media Videos
squamate.bsky.social
A baby sidewinder's tracks tell the story of the last few minutes.

First, an elegant change in direction and in sidewinding handedness, like the jibe of a sailboat. Then a startled squiggle as it realizes it's being followed.

Mojave Desert Sidewinder - Crotalus cerastes cerastes

#herps
The elegant track of a baby sidewinder zigs and zags up a sand dune. The sidewinder is visible at the end of the track at the top.
September 20, 2025 at 2:17 PM
squamate.bsky.social
Banded Rock Lizard - Petrosaurus mearnsi

Making it look easy.

This lizard was found in the peninsular ranges of Southern California. Geologically and ecologically, these ranges can be thought of as the northernmost part of Baja California.

#herps
A closeup of a slender lizard with a distinct black collar and gray banding under an overhanging granite rock. The rock is a yellowish granite.
September 14, 2025 at 5:03 PM
squamate.bsky.social
The western fence lizard hatchlings are out! First thing on the agenda? Eat some bugs! This one found a line of ants crawling on the branch of our palo verde and was happily snapping them up. Keep an eye out for little lizards!

Western Fence Lizard - Sceloporus occidentalis

July 2025

#herps 🦎 🐜
A hatchling western fence lizard hunts on the branch of a palo verde. The branches, not just the leaves, of the palo verde are green, and that is the overwhelming tint of this photo. The fence lizard is no more than 2 cm snout-to-vent.
July 26, 2025 at 3:56 AM
Reposted by Phil Ngo
somuchpingle.bsky.social
#SnakeWeek: This is Lampropeltis herrerae from Isla Santa Todos off the west coast of Baja Norte, Mexico. Essentially a Mountain Kingsnake, it was isolated from mainland populations by rising ocean levels, and now survives as a desert island kingsnake. #herps #snakes #NaturePhotography 🌿
Side view of a small tricolored snake stretched out in a series of loose curves, head facing right. The snake is stretched out on a flat rock surface covered with rusty orange lichen, and behind the snake is a view of some green-and-brown rocky desert scrub, with the blue Pacific Ocean visible behind, and finally on the horizon are the faint purple hills and mountains of mainland Mexico. The front half of the snake is tricolored, with alternating rings of this pattern: black-white-black-lavender-black-white-black-lavender. The lavender rings disappear about halfway down the body, leaving a simple black-white-black-white ring pattern. The head is mostly black, as are the eyes, with a white ring at the neck.
July 16, 2025 at 2:04 AM
squamate.bsky.social
Nearly every riparian canyon near my home in Southern California has some of these these pretty chorus frogs (aka treefrogs), often sympatric with their cousins, the Pacific chorus frog, which have a much wider range.

California chorus frog - Pseudacris californiae

May 2025

#herps
A light-colored california tree frog, with its characteristic mottled stony appearance, peers into the camera from its vantage point on a nearby granite rock.
July 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
squamate.bsky.social
Here’s a special toad. The Arroyo toad is a federally listed endangered species. Do yourself a favor and listen to its mating call. It’s both beautiful and eerie, a reminder of a sound far more common in the not-so-distant past.

Arroyo toad - Anaxyrus californicus

#herps #FrogFriday
A small toad is seen centered on a sandy substrate. This toad has a white base color with yellow and dark gray splotches. We’re looking at the toad at a slight angle from the head on.
June 20, 2025 at 10:11 PM
squamate.bsky.social
The mojave rattlesnake has strikingly large scales on the top of its head - an identifying feature. For some reason it has an undeserved reputation for being particularly fearsome. I wouldn’t pet it, but like all rattlesnakes, it just wants to be left alone.

#herps 🐍
A small mojave rattlesnake with muted olive gray coloration and a dorsal pattern with ovals of darker scales surrounded by white. The rattlesnake is pictured from top down coiled in ambush position on yellowish sands.
June 4, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by Phil Ngo
oriannesociety.bsky.social
Kiley captured some footage of Barred Owls hunting Wood Frogs on one of his game trail cams in mid-April. Volume on for additional info.
May 30, 2025 at 12:45 PM
squamate.bsky.social
Unbothered by hikers and hitchhikers, this juvenile rattlesnake basked peacefully by the side of a busy trail. Contrary to popular belief, baby rattlesnakes have full control of their venom delivery and deliver less venom than adults.

Southern pacific rattlesnake - Crotalus helleri

#herps
A close-up view of the head and neck of a light tan and brown juvenile southern pacific rattlesnake, viewed from the side. The rattlesnake is on a sandy trail with sparse green vegetation - a bit of grass and clover. Most notably, a hitchhiker seed is nestled up against the neck of the snake. It does not look comfortable, but it does not seem bothered.
May 24, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Phil Ngo
theonetruekat.bsky.social
It’s still amphibian season if you look in the right places. The tiny legs get me every time. California slender salamander. #herps
May 23, 2025 at 12:45 PM
squamate.bsky.social
The LA Zoo has a great reptile house with a whole room dedicated to local reptiles. Last weekend I took my kids to the zoo to see it (again). Then, an hour later and a mile or two away, we went and found one of these local species in Griffith Park, fulfilling a long time fancy of mine.
🐍 🐍 🐍
A placard at the LA Zoo showing an english and spanish translation of a description of the Southern Pacific Rattlesnake which reads: Southern Pacific Rattlesnake Cascabel del Pacifico Sur Crotalus oreganus helleri Meet Your Neighbor This rattler is a California native. In fact, it's the only rattlesnake found here in Griffith Park. Sometimes it's even seen on Zoo grounds! Te Presento a Tu Vecina Esta cascabel es oriunda de California. De hecho, es la única serpiente de cascabel que habita en Griffith Park. A veces se las ve hasta por los terrenos del zoológico! The placard also has a range map showing its local distribution in Southern California and Baja California. A small Southern Pacific Rattlesnake, Crotalus helleri, in situ (as found) in habitat with woody debris and fresh newly grown green leaves and stalks of plants nearby. The habitat is shaded and the light is from a cloudy overcast sky.
May 12, 2025 at 8:35 PM
squamate.bsky.social
Most people in the US live within the range of the Ring-necked Snake. It’s harmless, but tries its best to appear otherwise. The result is beauty.

Ring-necked Snake - Diadophis punctatus

🐍
A close up shot of the bright orange-red ventral scales on the tail of a ring-necked snake, which is curled into a tight double loop. The tip of the tail, visible in the middle of the loop, is black, as are the edges of the surrounding dorsal scales, giving the red tail colors an almost gear-toothed look. The tail rests on a roughly textured, darkly colored rock.
May 7, 2025 at 5:20 AM
squamate.bsky.social
Who can blame this horned lizard for frowning when its favorite native ants are being replaced by highly invasive argentine ants? They just aren’t as tasty.

Coast Horned Lizard - Phrynosoma blainvillii

#herps
A close-up profile of the head of Coast Horned Lizard. The lizard is spiked on its mouth, neck, shoulder, and back, with loosely folded rough brown scales, a permanent frown, and a particularly prominent crown of spikes on the back of its head. Background is a soft green with out of focus grass.
May 3, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Reposted by Phil Ngo
oriannesociety.bsky.social
Dr. Jenkins sits down for part two of his conversation with Dr. James Emerson of Texas State University, exploring his research on Crotalus ornatus, a recently reclassified, and relatively understudied, #rattlesnake species from the Trans-Pecos region.

Listen in: www.oriannesociety.org/snake-talk/
April 19, 2025 at 12:59 AM
squamate.bsky.social
Take a few moments to stare into the soul of this frog.

Imagine yourself surrounded by the deafening calls of dozens of other frogs, each fighting for survival in a fragment of untouched habitat in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Pacific Chorus Frog - Pseudacris regilla

Happy #FrogFriday. 🐸
A closeup image of a brown and tan pacific chorus frog sitting on a rock at night with a black background. The image centers on the eye of the frog, which is reddish brownish with golden flecks and a black horizontal oval pupil. The image has a strong bokeh, with all but the eye and face of the frog blurred. The frog is light tan colored underneath and, like all pacific chorus frogs, has a dark stripe across its eye starting at its nose and going back to its shoulder.
April 18, 2025 at 6:49 PM
squamate.bsky.social
Here is a little legless lizard from LA County.

People often ask, how come it’s a lizard and not a snake? It really comes down to genetics, but there are some big hints in its morphology: eyelids that blink, a tail that can detach.

Southern California Legless Lizard - Anniella stebbinsi

#herps 🦎
A golden, worm-sized, snake-like, limbless lizard rests on an outstretched palm, with a little of the sandy substrate and a few bits of dead leaves beneath the lizard. The lizard has a very thin black line down the center of its back and its body is curved in a s-shape.
April 16, 2025 at 11:28 PM
squamate.bsky.social
Spot the snake and name the species!

Answer key in alt text

#herps 🐍
This image is a wide angle view of a mixture of dry (almost grey) and newly grown vegetation. At roughly 35% from the right of the image and 25% from the bottom, a juvenile Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus helleri) is just visible basking, partially obscured by the new spring growth of a small herbaceous plant.
April 9, 2025 at 8:54 PM
squamate.bsky.social
I can see why they call it a red-spotted toad. And I’m a little surprised they could see it at all.

Red-spotted Toad - Anaxyrus punctatus

#herps #frogfriday
A top-down view of a small toad on a sandy granite gravel. The colors of the toad roughly match the color of the gravel. The toad is a light tan color with small raised bright red spots with patchy grey outlines.
April 4, 2025 at 11:30 PM
squamate.bsky.social
Red Diamond Rattlesnakes are a CA Species of Special Concern due to habitat loss, fragmentation, and other pressures. They like using the same spaces we do. They also bask out in the open, like this one I saw last week, making them easy targets.

Red Diamond Rattlesnake - Crotalus ruber

#herps
A large red diamond rattlesnake basks on a sunny day in the ruins of an old structure, surrounded by concrete blocks embedded in dirt and lush green but invasive grasses. Its body winds gracefully through its surroundings, crossing itself once. The snake is a rusty tan with faint white diamonds along its back and a black and white striped tail leading to a rattle with 8 or 9 segments.
April 3, 2025 at 9:29 PM
squamate.bsky.social
It is uniquely awe-inspiring to witness simple acts of living in the wild, such as this slender salamander I observed recently munching on springtails in the San Gabriel Mts near LA. ♥️🌎

Black-bellied Slender Salander (Batrachoseps nigriventris)

Springtail sp., likely Ptenothrix maculosa

#herps
April 2, 2025 at 7:15 PM
squamate.bsky.social
I lived in SoCal for years before I learned we have these adorable little newts in the area.

Up north they are especially toxic, locked in an evolutionary arms race with garter snakes that have enough resistance to their tetrodotoxin to prey upon them.

California newt - Taricha torosa

#herps
A Californa newt with reddish-brown dorsal coloring and orange ventrum climbs up a rock. The newt has a rough bumpy texture. The newt is shown in profile. In the blurred background are grasses, sticks, and rocks.
March 27, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Reposted by Phil Ngo
tarichatgirl.bsky.social
Today I saw, at work, what is easily a contender for the top two bluest Nisqually garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis pickeringii) I've seen. I'd have to have the two snakes side by side in the same lighting to judge them evenly.

#herps #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #outdoors
A Nisqually garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis pickeringii) sits coiled, facing the left. The snake has a very dark gray to black base color with bold blue stripes running the length of the snake's body along its spine and sides. The labial scales on the cheeks, the throat scales, and the lower half of the ocular scales. The top of the snake's head is the same dark gray to black as the rest of the snake's base color. The scales of the snake are keeled on the body and smooth on the head and ventral (belly) side of the body. The snake is sitting on a bed of brown ponderosa pine straw, with fresh green shoots of the Camas plant coming up behind it, along with a green elliptical shaped leaf of another plant species. In the immediate foreground of the snake rests an oak leaf that is a mixture of shades of brown and orange. Sun beams down from above, illuminating the snake and surrounding substrate and vegetation.
March 27, 2025 at 12:26 AM
squamate.bsky.social
Slender salamander from SoCal showing off its lonnnnnnnnnng tail.

Black-bellied Slender Salamander - Batrachoseps nigriventris

#herps
A dark brown and black slender salamander is curled in the shape of a comma, with its small body seemingly dwarfed by its long tail. It’s on some dark wood streaked with some weathered white paint.
March 25, 2025 at 11:13 PM
squamate.bsky.social
We have been chosen! Excited to be watching this process unfold on our front porch.

Mourning Cloak - Nymphalis antiopa
A spiky black and gray caterpillar prepares to become a chrysalis, hanging in the shape of the letter J from a brick above a white painted wall.
March 25, 2025 at 10:29 PM
squamate.bsky.social
Yesterday we were admiring the bright breeding colors on this male Skilton’s skink.

Skilton’s skink, Plestiodon skiltonianus skiltonianus

#herps
A skilton’s skink with bright orange labial scales, a white chin and venter, and grey dorsal scales is held in hand. The skink is held so its head is pointing up.
March 18, 2025 at 3:31 PM